


To Challenge Fate

by FireThatFox



Category: Assassination Classroom
Genre: ...annnnnd I am going to make this a three part story series, Childhood Friends, Crime, F/M, High School, Learning how to be the tycoons of end game while the risks are low, Love Triangles, cause inspiration struck an all that crap, jealousy and control, just decided you know, slow burn cause they are young, whomever said competition wasn't life and death was a loser
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-16 10:40:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29452446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FireThatFox/pseuds/FireThatFox
Summary: Akabane was the only one to return to Kunugigaoka High from Class 3-E and Asano couldn't ask for a better academic rival.What Asano hadn't counted on was a rival in love for the affections of Unmei Shikakeru, his childhood friend and confidant.So many things had happened over the summer before the start of High School, he had hoped Unmei would understand, but Unmei had been dealing with problems of her own....and when she had reached out for Asano, he wasn't there.  Instead, she found comfort in another red head, Karma Akabane.What would Unmei and Karma's new friendship mean for their first year of High School?  How had the dynamics of the school changed in the absence of Asano's father?Unmei doesn't know, nor does she care.  She just wants to make it out of High School in one peace, mind body and soul, but sometimes fate just isn't that kind.
Relationships: Akabane Karma & Original Character(s), Akabane Karma/Original Character(s), Asano Gakushuu & Original Character(s), Asano Gakushuu/Original Character(s)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Assassination Classroom fan fic. Let's see how it goes shall we?

“I wonder if it will affect his grades.” Unmei heard one girl whisper to another as she walked through the front gates of Kunugigaoka High School.

It was the start of first term and the new school year. The first year without Principal Asano. Everyone heard, everyone wondered, but no one was talking, least of all his son, Asano Gakushuu. She wondered how he was holding up. Knowing him, and she did know him, he was probably fine.

“Did you hear about his dad? I heard he started his own company. My dad said it’s only been live for a month and he already has investors calling him from America!”

That little tidbit didn’t surprise her in the slightest. Gakushuu’s father was a genius. Something his son had inherited from his father. They were so much alike, anyone with eyes could see it, except Gakushuu and his dad.

Unmei walked toward the front door and pulled on the handle. It was crowded. For some reason she thought since she would be in the high school building this year there would be more room, but no, it was just as crowded as the middle school had been, if not more. Bigger bodies, she told herself as she looked at her schedule.

Class-A, like always she had tested in the top twenty five of her class at the end of last year placing her in Class-A for the beginning of the year again. Whether she remained in Class-A or not, remained to be seen. They had done away with the E-Class system at the end of last year but there were rumors that the new principal would be bringing it back. She hoped not.

She was a little early. There were only two other students in the class. She recognized both of them and wondered why they were here and not stuck up Gakushuu’s ass like they usually were. Had the dynamics of their little group changed over the summer? What did she care, Asano hadn’t returned any of her texts she had sent him for the last two months.

“Shikakeru.” Sakakibara Ren, called out to Unmei before she could sit down in the back of the class. “Sit up here, with us.”

Unmei hesitated. She and Gakushuu were still friendly toward one another but their argument at the end of last year had never been resolved and she wasn’t sure how he would receive her sitting so close to him. He always sat at the front of the class, in the chair Ren was pulling out for her to sit in.

“She won’t sit there, come on that’s Gakushuu’s seat, she knows better than to sit there.” Seo Tomoya smirked.

“I’d rather sit by the window anyway.” Unmei steps to the left, pulls the chair out and sits down, hooking her bag to the side of her desk as Asano walks into the room followed by Araki and Koyama.

Unmei ignores the small talk as more and more of her classmates file into the room. There’s a pain in the side of her neck and she resists the urge to rub it. That’s where his teeth would strike. She can feel Asano’s eyes on her.

“I didn’t realize the new year required a new seating arrangement.” Gakushuu’s voice fell heavy over her ears. She could see the tips of his shoes under her arm beside her desk as she rearranged her books. He was standing, waiting for her to look up at him so he could tower over her. The prick. So she hadn’t been imagining the distance between them, fine, if that’s the way he wanted it. Fine.

Unmei stood up abruptly, startling Ren who was also standing beside Asano.

“If it’s a problem, I’ll move. Ren invited me to sit there.” She pointed to Asano’s seat. “I prefer the window.” She bowed shallowly, mockingly, then sat back down turning her head to look out her coveted window, ignoring Asano as well as any comeback he may have had.

He had none, or at least he offered her none. Silence filled the room as their sensei entered with a slight clearing of his throat and class began.

“I’ll be waiting for you after class. I have a thing or two to say to you Unmei.” Asano’s voice crept across the space between their desks, a small piece of paper sliding into her peripheral.

Unmei scoffed, what was this grade school? Shoving the piece of paper off her desk with her elbow she saw Asano’s swift fingers dart out to grab it before it could fall completely to the ground. He scoffed, but his amusement at her actions was clear by the annoyingly sick snickering of ‘The Big Five’ surrounding her, suffocating her.

‘The Big Five’, Unmei snorted to herself, what a joke. Yes, they were the highest ranked students in their grade, but the club wasn’t nearly as exclusive as they thought it was.

“Sorry I’m late teach, slept in. You know how it is.” A lazy voice from the classroom door had Unmei looking up from her notes.

“Akabane. Class starts at 8:45 am. You’re late.” Their sensei narrowed his eyes at Akabane Karma, the second highest scoring student in their grade, not part of the Big Five, by choice.

“Cool cool, I’ll make sure not to pin my alarm clock to the wall with my knife tomorrow. Old habit you understand right, teach?” Akabane winked at the sensei as he walked casually across the room taking the empty seat behind Unmei.

“Hey Unmei, nice of you to save me a seat doll.” Karma flicked a lock of hair over Unmei's shoulder, smirked, then sat back in his seat as though he didn’t have a care in the world.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Gakushuu grip his pencil, his knuckles white. Maybe tomorrow she could sit somewhere else. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to sit in front of Karma, with Gakushuu on her right. 

Unmei hunched over her desk, it felt like there was a target on her back. She had been wrong before. The side of her neck, no that’s not where the teeth would meet. It was the back, the part of her neck exposed to Karma, that’s where he would attack, that’s how she was going to die.

“I should have just stayed home today.” Unmei groaned as the bell rang signaling the end of first period Math.

“Skipping on your first day Unmei? Didn’t know ya had it in you.” Karma chuckled as he walked past her, then out the door to his next class.

“Care to explain that?” Asano didn’t even wait for Unmei to pick her backpack up from it’s hook before interrogating her.

“It’s nothing Gakushuu, just leave it. That’s just how he is okay.” Unmei rolled her eyes and pushed past Asano, noticing only Ren was still in the room out of his little group of friends.

“See you.” Unmei nodded to Ren as she tried to leave the class. She had history next and she didn’t want to be late.

“Yeah.” He moved out of her way but Asano caught her by her sleeve and pulled her back.

“I wasn’t done talking to you.” Gakushuu tried to pull Unmei back into the room.

“I don’t want to be late for my next class.” She pulled away and ran out the door.

“Trouble in paradise?” Ren gave Gakushuu a pitying eye.

“Apparently two months wasn’t long enough for her to forget our slight disagreement.” Asano was still staring at the door even though Unmei was no longer there.

“Maybe it wasn’t a slight disagreement to her.” Ren shrugged and pulled his book bag up over his shoulder. “Come on, she’s right we can’t be late for our next class.”

Gakushuu grabbed his bag and followed Ren to their History room which also served as their science room, the class after History. 

A few things in their group dynamic had changed after graduation last year. Gakushuu’s father was no longer the principal and many of his peers saw it as an opportunity to treat him how they had always wanted to treat him, like dirt. Other’s, like Ren, Tomoya and Teppei continued to stand by him as their class president and one of the best students in their class, only Natsuhiko’s attitude toward Asano had changed for the worse in their little group, but it was tolerable.

The fact remained, Asano truly was the top student of their grade and he had earned his place at the top just like the rest of them. Being the former principal’s son was just as much of a burden on him as it was a blessing. It was something most of the student body didn’t understand.

Unmei did though. She had always understood him, which is why their argument last year had hurt him so deeply.

_“I hate it when you act like this, like you’re better than everyone else cause you’re not! Is this what you’ve been doing while I was gone? I’m so disappointed in you Gakushuu. You of all people, Gakushuu should know what it feels like to be emotionally scared, to be attacked for…”_

_“Stop talking Unmei! SHUT UP! Stop acting like you know me, stop trying to protect me! I don’t need your protection, I never did. Wallow in the mud with 3-E if you want to defend them so badly, ask for a transfer for all I care. I’m going to beat Akabane. I’m going to win and then you’ll see, you’ve picked the wrong man to back.”_

_“I’m not backing Akabane, I hardly know him! That’s not what this is about and you know it, stop twisting my words.”_

_“I’ve wasted enough time on you. You’re not worth it anymore.”_

Words, they were just words and he hadn’t meant any of them. He was just hurt, upset she had left him without telling him. One day she was there and then the next day she wasn’t, she was just gone. She had abandoned him. Why didn’t she understand that? She always understood him, always. Had he gone too far that time? Was it his fault? 

No, it was hers. Asano clenched his fist at his side as he entered his History class.

His eyes narrowed as they fell on a familiar mop of red hair bent toward glossy black. Was he the reason she hadn’t forgiven him? Citrine eyes met purple as Akabane lifted his head to smirk at Asano. Had she found someone to replace him? Gakushuu didn’t think they had grown that close at the end of last year. Was this something that happened over the summer after graduation?

He needed to know, for his own sanity, exactly how much Akabane meant to Unmei and how far it had gone.

No, he told himself. She wasn’t like that. Unmei wasn’t that kind of a girl who would...he took his seat at the front of the class ignoring the talk around him. Ren sat beside him, Tomoya to his right and Teppei behind him. He was reading too far into the situation, his imagination was getting away from him, just like when they were kids. He always worried too much when it came to Unmei. She was the one thing, the one who could always break his resolve, no matter how invested he was, determined or focused.

One look, one smile from Unmei was all it took to make him fall apart. Thank kami she had been gone for most of the year last year, or he never would have made it to graduation. Actually, if he was honest with himself, if she had been there for him, last year might have gone a whole lot better.

Asano looked across the room where Unmei sat, still engrossed in conversation with the sadist. She was here now, that’s all that mattered. Let the redhead have a little of her time. He was still her best friend and that would never change.

History and Science class passed uneventfully. By the time lunch rolled around Unmei was ready to call it a day. She hadn’t slept well the night before, her father was a big wig of some technology and research company in Tokyo so he was hardly ever home. Her mother, sick of being a housewife for the last fifteen years, took off with some hot shot banker two weeks before Unmei started high school.

Understandably, she was still a little bitter. Bitter at her mother and yeah, maybe a little bit toward Asano. She had needed him that summer and he hadn’t been there for her. She knew he was dealing with his own problems but still, everytime she called, he was ‘Walking out the door’, or ‘Meeting a friend’, so she found other ways to occupy her time.

Like exploring the mountain side of 3-E. That’s where she had met Karma.

They knew one another from school of course but him being in 3-E and her on the main campus when she had returned to Japan, they rarely talked.

It was the same afternoon her mom left. Her father, who had been in Tokyo for the last month, hadn’t even bothered to come home to check on her. So she went for a walk.

Like everyone in Japan and probably around the world she watched the news, had heard about the alien being or whatever he was that had held 3-E hostage for the entire school year, how they had managed to kill the monster and got rewarded for it in cold hard cash.

She was curious. She saw the sign at the base of the mountain. She ignored it.

_Unmei ran her hands along the roughened wood panels of the abandoned classroom. Sitting in one of the seats in the back she wondered what it would have been like to sit here and be taught by the monster who had blown up the moon._

_Looking around her it seemed like a regular classroom. The desks were lined up in a row. There were the remnants of a lesson still on the chalkboard and hooks for the students' backpacks in the back of the room along the wall, but no monster._

_Unmei rose from the second to the last seat in the back of the class and walked up to the teacher’s podium. Bending over she peered into the hidden self. A roll call book lay on its back, resting as though it were waiting for the monster to return, to call roll for his class one more time._

_It saddened her and she didn’t know why._

_Moving out of the main classroom and down the hall she stepped off the back porch that overlooked the clearing where the class of 3-E was rumored to have trained in combat, firearms and other assassination related skills. She wondered again, what it would have been like to be a part of it, to be a part of something so fantastic and so much bigger than yourself._

_“Too bad.” She mused as she walked down the small porch into the open field toward the woods. “I was so concerned about my grades, I missed out on all of this.” She looked over her shoulder at the rustic schoolhouse._

_Truth and lies._

_She had asked Asano about it, but of course he didn’t tell her anything. She suspected he, like the rest of them, really didn’t know anything. It had come as a shock not only to the world but to those closest to the principal. The man certainly had more secrets in him than anyone else would know what to do with but Asano was clever like that she supposed._

_Like father like son._

_Unmei found a slightly overgrown trail and followed it to what looked like a really amazing water hole complete with swimming lanes and a diving board._

_“Incredible. Who’d have thought this was back here the whole time. 3-E really was special wasn’t it.” She smiled, a slow whistle pressed through her teeth in respect for the beauty that surrounded her. “No wonder they did so well at the last school festival.”_

_“You think so?” An amused voice startled her, she tripped on the edge of the drop and almost fell into the water. A hand, quick and agile shot out of nowhere, grabbed the front of her shirt and lifted her back up to standing._

_Unmei pushed her long black hair out of her eyes. “Who the hell are you? Oh, Karma, you scared me.”_

_“It’s customary to thank your rescuer for saving your life, but I understand you’re in shock what with getting caught for trespassing an all.” The redhead held up his hands in mock display. “No worries, I get it, you wanted to come see if you could find something on the monster.”_

_The boy’s eyes grew cold. “Let me tell ya doll, you won’t find anything.” The boy turned on his heel and sauntered off calling over his shoulder, “Give it up, go home, there’s nothing to see here.”_

_She left. Not because he told her to leave no, but because suddenly, she didn’t feel like being there anymore now that she knew she wasn't alone._

_The next morning Unmei woke up to an empty house. Her father still hadn’t bothered to call her to see how she was doing. Not that she really expected him to but it would have been nice._

_Leaning over, Unmei grabbed her phone from her nightstand. No missed calls. No text messages._

_She texted Asano: Hey, want to go for a walk with me?_

_Setting her phone down she got dressed, brushed her teeth and ate some breakfast. Before she left she checked her phone one last time, no answer. Unmei looked out her window. She could barely make out the top of Asano’s house from her bedroom. She knows he’s up. Even if it is summer vacation, he’s Asano, he’s always up at 7am._

_“Whatever.” Unmei tucked her phone in the back pocket of her pants and locked the front door to her house. She can go for a walk alone._

_The mountain was as beautiful as it had been the day before. Unmei sighs as she settles down on a large rock jutting out of the side of one of the steep cliffs that cover the eastern side of the mountain. Leaning over, she can see the sparkling water of the river below. This was her new favorite place. It was so relaxing here, so peaceful._

_Laying back, her arms under her head, she closed her eyes and smiled._

_“Back again are you?” That same annoying voice from yesterday taunted her._

_Unmei opened her eyes and looked up into the face of Karma Akabane for the second day in a row._

_“I knew we should have installed that thirteen foot high electric fence, but you know, I got outvoted, something about not wanting to hurt people or something pointless.”_

_“Don’t you have anything else better to do than bother people who are minding their own business?” Unmei sits up and pokes him in the leg._

_“Don’t you know how to read or has the curriculum changed so much in Class-A since I left that you can’t read huge No-Trespassing signs?” Karma counters._

_“I'm not hurting anyone by being here.” Unmei defends herself. She saw the signs, she just uh, ignored them._

_“No, but you could get hurt.” Akabane smirks at Unmei’s widening eyes, then delights when apprehension turns to anger._

_“Are you threatening me?” Unmei rolled up onto her feet glaring at the red headed bastard._

_“Not at all doll.” Karma pulled a blade from his pocket and threw it to his left without even looking._

_Unmei’s head whipped to the side to see the knife sticking two inches deep into the side of the tree, then…_

_CRACK!_

_A log as thick as Unmei’s waist swung down from the canopy above._

_“Duck.” Karma pulled Unmei down onto the rock by the collar of her shirt and wrapped his arms around her to keep her head down as the tree trunk swung harmlessly over their heads._

_Whoosh…_

_“I’d stay down if I were you.” Karma laughed in her ear as she struggled in his embrace. “There’ll be another one in 3...2...1”_

_CRACK!_

_Whoosh…_

_“How the, what the hell is that there for!” She squeaked out under the cover of Karma’s arms._

_“We set it up as a trap for Koro Sensei.” He pulled Unmei to her feet and patted her clothes down for her while her mouth continued to hang open._

_“The monster?” Unmei asks. She sees the corner of Karma’s mouth tighten just a tad before he relaxes his shoulders and shrugs._

_“I don’t mind if you come here but I gotta run it by the others.” He turns to walk away. “Oh, one more thing though uh, you can’t come here without me. Traps you know.” Karma pulled his knife from the tree and slid it back up into the sleeve of his shirt._

That had been her routine for the remainder of her summer.

She gave Karma her number since he had erased it from his phone after he had been kicked to E-Class. He had been surprised to find out she hadn’t erased him from hers, but pleased she thought.

He had gotten permission for her to explore the mountain, providing he was with her, from the others in E-Class. Apparently they had bought the mountain after the government shelled out their reward money. To say she was impressed and confused, was an understatement. She hoped he would explain it to her in time because she, like most people, really wanted to know what had really happened that year on the mountain.

It had only been two weeks but he met her there almost everyday. It seemed to Unmei, Karma wanted to be there, needed to be there almost as much as she did. She learned through their conversations that he was alone most of the time too. His parents both traveled extensively for work leaving him home alone for months at a time.

They would have that in common soon. At that point she had only been alone for a couple of weeks and it was already getting lonely. When Karma asked her why she didn’t just invite her friends over or go over to her friend’s houses she told him, embarrassed, that her only real friend was Asano Gakushuu.

Karama had snorted, made some childish reply and they never spoke of it again.

Two days before the start of High School she opened her door to find Karma on her front porch, his hand raised to knock.

_“Thought I’d pick you up at your house today. There’s something I wanna do, cool?” He pulled her by the hand, barely waiting for her to lock her front door behind her._

_“What is this place?” Unmei asked, surveying the small tea shop with interest. It didn’t look like the sort of place Karma would go to, but then again this is the first place aside from the mountain she and Karma had ever gone to together._

_“Kayano likes this place, she suggested I take you here. She was in 3-E with me last year.” Karma wouldn’t quite meet your eye. “Order whatever you want, my treat okay?”_

_“Oh, you don’t have to pay for me, I have money.” Unmei blushed. Was this...a date?_

_“So do I and I’m paying.” Karma pushed her in the small of her back to the counter._

Unmei wasn’t sure what her relationship with Karma was, they weren’t officially dating, at least he hadn’t asked her to be his girlfriend and she wasn’t sure she wanted to be his girlfriend. She wasn’t even sure if he liked her like that. He kinda reminded her of Asano, but she would never tell Karama that, or Asano.

“Hey.” Asano was standing in front of Unmei’s desk. “Lunch?”

“Oh um.” Unmei could feel Karma shifting his weight in his seat beside her.

“Sorry.” Karma stood up, picking up Unmei’s backpack. “She has plans, with me. Right doll?” Karma winked, making Unmei flush.

“Uh.” Unmei stuttered, but is ignored as Asano turns back to the ‘Big Five’ without a word and leads them out of the room.

“Come on, I got something special for us today. You said you liked that tea shop we went to before school started right? I stopped by there on the way to class, that’s why I was late. Come on.” Karma took Unmei’s hand, lacing their fingers together and pulled her from the room.


	2. Chapter 2

運命 Unmei, Fate, 仕掛ける Shikakeru, To Challenge

カルマ Karma, Destiny, 赤羽 Akabane, Red Feathers 

Karma watched Unmei out of the corner of his eye as she surveyed the food he had laid out before her. “I know you like dumplings but I thought you might want to try their squid balls and fried tofu. I got both.” Was she upset?

Unmei looked up at Karma. Why was he being so nice to her? Since he had found her on the mountain behind his old classroom, he had been so kind to her. Even at the end of last year, before graduation she had seen the change in him. He wasn’t the same careless, violent out of control delinquent he was before she had left Japan.

“What’s wrong? Not hungry?” Karma popped one of the squid balls in his mouth, chewing noisily. Were her and Asano that good of friends? He hadn’t counted on that. He figured they had drifted apart after last year. She had only returned to Kunugigaoka for the last month before their graduation.

“Why are you being so nice to me?” Unmei asked him.

This again? Karma sighed. Why was she always so suspicious? Not that he wouldn’t be suspicious, but she hadn’t been in E-Class last year, she wasn’t an assassin, not like him. What did she have to be so cynical about?

“You want me to be mean to you?” Karma cocked his head to the side. “I didn’t know you had a pain kink but okay, I can work with that.” He grinned at her, then pushed the box of squid balls closer to her. He was overthinking this. She wasn’t being suspicious, she was just being smart.

Unmei covered her mouth and tried not to laugh at his crude joke. “You’ve changed, you’re different from the kid that got kicked out of A-Class last year.”

“How would you know? You were gone most of the year. Why’d ya leave anyway, then come back?” Karma leaned back against the weight of his arms, tilted his head back to the clouds and nodded slowly. “Yeah, maybe a bit.”

There was more he had to say, Unmei could feel it in the air around them, a calm straining against the tension of invisible string, pulling her closer to the edge. If he wasn’t going to share with her, she wasn’t going to share with him.

“You’re different too.” Karma’s words caught her off guard.

“How so?” She asked him. Question averted. “How would you know?”

Karma smirked. “Don’t be coy, it demeans your intelligence.”

Unmei blinked. Was he complimenting her? It was hard to tell with Karma. That was the first thing she learned about him over the summer.

“What are you doing after school? Cram?” He avoided her question like she had avoided his earlier.

“Not this year. My mom’s gone, as you know and my dad never cared if I went to cram school or not so I just uh, unenrolled myself.” She shrugged off the redhead's laughter. “I sound a lot like my mom over the phone and well, you know…” Her voice trailed off leaving the sentence open. He knew.

“Unenrolled yourself huh. Pocket the cash?” He asked her. That’s what he would have done.

“Of course.” She smiled. “Girl’s gotta eat.”

“You’re not eating.” Karma pushed the box of dumplings toward Unmei and pulled the squid back in front of him. “I know you like those, eat.” He didn’t ask her when or if her father would be coming back soon. He knew how that went all too well. She was new to it though, she’d get used to it, like he was.

“Why are you being so nice to me?” Unmei asked him again before eating.

Karma shrugged, laid down in the grass beside his food box and reached for another squid ball. “I know what it’s like to be alone.” He said simply.

“Oh.” Unmei understood. He pitied her. She hadn’t been expecting that from him.

As though he could read her mind…”I don’t pity you so don’t go getting all hormonal on me okay.” His eyes held hers, his head tilted to the side to gauge her reaction.

“You’re an asshole, you know that?” Unmei grabbed a dumpling and shoved it into her mouth before she could add, “A cute one though.”

“You like it, admit it, you’re a masochist.” Karma grinned. “Why do you think we get along so well doll? I’m a sadist, but you knew that didn’t you?”

“Ass.” Unmei laughed out loud and threw a dumpling at his head. She didn’t know that, but it made perfect sense. 

He caught the dumpling easily and popped it into his mouth. “Not an ass, doll. Sadist baby.” Karma purred, making Unmei’s face go red. “If you don’t want to be late for P.E, I’d hurry up and eat.” He laid back in the grass, the last squid ball in his hand. “As I recall you were always pretty good in P.E.” He threw the comment out casually.

“Been watching me?” She asked.

“I watch everyone, don’t get your hopes up.” Karma smirked at her. 

“Right.” Unmei rolled her eyes, but there was a smile on her face and Karma liked seeing it there. 

When he saw her on the mountain behind E-Class he had stalked her, had planned on scaring her off but her face...she had looked so sad and so…

He knew that face. It had been one of his faces, one of the many faces he had adopted since his parents thought he was old enough to leave home alone while they did business abroad. 

Oblivious to the redhead’s scrutiny, Unmei took another dumpling and chewed it slowly. This was nice, it was peaceful and…

“So, wanna tell me what’s got Agent Orange’s panties in such a knot?” Karma asked you all too casually.

“Agent...oh! You mean Gakushuu? He’s just…” Unmei’s words failed her. How did you explain someone as complex as Gakushu to someone who considered him an enemy?

She wasn’t sure what was wrong with Gakushuu, he was the one who hadn’t returned her calls, her texts or tried to contact her all summer. She wasn’t sure why all of a sudden he was pissed off she had found someone else to hang out with when he had been too busy for her over the summer, but she could guess.

“He’s got a lot going on right now, at home.” Unmei defended her old friend.

“Right.” Karma rolled over onto his stomach. So did she didn’t she? “I heard Captain Brainwash is doing real well with his new start up, no doubt Asano is feeling the pressure to uphold his father’s good name after his ‘Fall from grace’, last year.” Karma laid his head down on his crossed arms, watched Unmei eat the last dumpling, his cheek resting on his sleeve.

“You don’t know what it was like for Gakushuu, being the son of the principal, that principal. Growing up he had a lot of pressure on him to be the best and... His home life was…” Unmei paused. Why was she defending him? Why was Akabane asking her about Gakushuu?

Karma waited for her to come to her own conclusion. He could see the indecision on her face as though he were reading a book. She really had no control over her emotions, he marveled. No wonder she didn’t have any friends, she was too honest. Fine by him, she was kinda growing on him.

“That honesty is going to get you killed one day, you know that?” Citrine eyes stared at her soft brown without blinking.

“He had it a lot harder than you think Karma, than everyone knows. They didn't get to see the Gakushuu that I did.” She ended.

“Oh?” Karma lifted his head from his arms, his eyes narrowing. “I didn’t realize you two were that close.”

“We used to be. We grew up together.” Unmei ignored his dark look. “You were too busy terrorizing the other kids on the playground to notice I guess.” She added with a small laugh.

“A performance of the masses.” Karma snickered. “Entertainment for one.” He pointed to himself as the bell rang for fifth period P.E.

“Right, like I said. You’ve changed.” Unmei smiled a little smile as she gathered their trash up into the take out bag.

“Naw, that part of me won’t ever change I don’t think.” Karma scratched his chin, considering his words carefully. “Just my priorities.” He winked at her, making her blush.

“Come on.” He took the trash from her hand and tossed it into a trash can as they walked around the back of the building to the locker rooms for P.E. “See you on the field.” He waved to her over his shoulder without looking back.

“Right.” Unmei bit her bottom lip, noticing a very distinguishable orange head moving toward the boys locker room from the otherside of the common area. “This is going to be great. Just great.”

Unmei pulled her shorts up over her underwear and tied them around her waist. Pulling her long hair up into a high ponytail she didn’t see the odd looks she was getting from the other girls in the locker room, but she could hear them whispering.

“Did you see her? She’s getting awfully chummy with the psycho.” 

“I saw them once, over the summer at a tea house. Maybe she’s trying to tame the rabid dog.”

“I thought she was with Asano.” A more timid, kinder voice interjected.

“Not from what I saw this morning. Looks to me he cast her aside after that very public argument they had at the end of last year, you know the one where she stood up for Sugino?”

“It’s different now though isn’t it? I mean, we all know what happened last year with E-Class. I can kinda see why she likes Karma, he’s kinda cute.”

“Girl, he’s a psycho, only another psycho would let a guy like him touch her.”

Unmei ignored the vicious laughter. It was a reminder. That’s why she didn’t have any friends. That’s why Asano had always been her only friend, he was...it didn’t matter. Like Karma had told her. She was too honest to have friends like that. She didn’t want friends like that. She had never fit into A-Class. Not then, not now.

Unmei flipped her ponytail over her shoulder, pushed past one of the girls who had been gossiping about her and climbed the stairs to the practice field. Gym was one of her favorite classes, she didn’t want to be late.

Asano was waiting for her when she walked out of the girl’s locker room.

“Unmei, wait.” 

She ducked her head. What, he couldn’t even wait until after class to harass her? Unmei ignored him, like he had ignored her all summer.

“Unmei, what the hell, why are you ignoring me? I thought we were friends or has Akabane already taken…” Asano began but Unmei cut him off.

“You thought we were friends?” She wanted to cry. He was blaming her? “I texted you, called you and you blew me off. Every time I called you were doing something else, every single one of my texts went unanswered. Friends? Don’t make me laugh.” Side stepping Gakushuu, she pushed past him but he reached out for her arm to pull her back.

She pivoted on the heel of her right foot and fell back into a defensive stance ripping her arm from his grasp. “Don’t touch me Gakushuu.” She warned him. Her eyes flashing dangerously. Ther was the girl he knew. There was that fire he loved to see burning in her.

“You know what happened to my father at the end of the year last year, you of all people know how he is and what he…”

“How long Gakushuu, how long will you use that as an excuse? You weren’t the only one who was dealing with stuff this past summer you know. If you would have called me back, texted me or come over you would know that.” He wanted to lecture her on what it meant to be a friend, ridiculous. Her voice quaked and she sniffed back her burning tears. “...but you didn’t, did you. You were too wrapped up in your own misery, like always, to even think about me.”

Unmei shoved past him forcibly, and he let her go. ‘Like always’, he stood straight, looking to the left where she always used to be, guarding his left hand side, his heart. Was this really because he didn’t call her back or text her? He meant to only… She said he hadn’t been the only one dealing with stuff. Something had happened over the summer. Was it her dad, her mom? What?

He knew her dad had been promoted to a different division that required him to work out of Tokyo but her mom was home with her wasn’t she? If not then...

Slowly, his mind caught up to his heart. He understood. She had needed him. Unmei had needed him and he hadn’t been there for her. He had let her down, again wrapped up in his own misery, as she called it. It hadn’t always been like that though, he hadn’t always been like that. Maybe it was him, not her who had changed, no it was definitely her. When they had first met, she adored him, wanted to be like him, loved him.

Asano grit his teeth as a familiar redhead walked across the field toward his best friend and threw his arm around her shoulder. Didn’t she love him anymore? Didn’t all those years together mean anything to her? Had he really fucked up that badly?

_“You’re new aren’t you?”_

_Unmei turned around quickly, her little floppy pigtails hitting her cheeks as she spun around, to look at the little orange haired boy who had spoken to her. She nodded shyly, clutching the hem of her mother’s skirt._

_“My name is Asano. Gakushuu Asano. My name means to learn something new.” The boy’s eyes passed swiftly over Unmei’s long black hair, soft brown eyes and lavender dress the same color of his eyes. “I like your dress.”_

_Unmei blushed a dark blotchy red and pulled her mother’s skirt over her eyes. Her mother laughed a beautifully light laugh, her yellow eyes sparkled like the sun as she looked down at her little girl. “Say hello Unmei, be polite baby.”_

_Unmei squeaked as her mother stepped to the side revealing her daughter to the little orange haired boy who had introduced himself to Unmei so politely._

_“My name is, is um, Unmei. Shikakeru Unmei. It means Fate or destiny. It’s nice to meet you.” Unmei bowed from the waist, her little hands tucked in on one another as her hair fell over her shoulders._

_Asano licked his lips. Fate or destiny, yes, his avid mind mused, this was fate. This is what adults mean when they say ‘She’s adorable’, he thought to himself. Unmei, was adorable to him._

_“What’s this? Gakushuu, have you made a little friend already?” Asano Gakuho looked down at the little girl in her pigtails, to her mother standing behind her. “I’m Asano Gakuho, the principal here at Kunugigaoka. This is my son, Gakushuu. It is a pleasure to meet you. I must apologize for not meeting with you sooner, there were several issues that required my attention this morning, but enough excuses.”_

_Asano Gakuho extended his hand to Unmei. “Welcome Unmei, I hope you enjoy attending Kunugigaoka Primary.”_

_“You were recommended to us by the parents of one of your former students Asano san.” Unmei’s mother smiled a charming smile at Gakushuu’s father. “Ikeda’s parents are good friends of my husband and I. It was a shame about the boy but his parents always spoke so highly of you and your teaching methods. They said you were the best sensei Ikeda ever had.” Unmei’s mother continued to smile at the man, completely unaware of the cold moving along the ground in the space between, but Unmei could feel it, and shuddered involuntarily._

_“It’s not you. There’s nothing to fear.”_

_Unmei opened her eyes. She hadn’t even realized she had closed them. Gakushuu was standing beside her, his hand slipping into hers and pulling her away from his father and her mother. “Trust me. It’s going to be okay, it’s nothing. Let’s sit up front.”_

_Unmei allowed Gakushuu to lead her to the front row of seats, to the two that sat right in front of the teacher’s podium. To their right was a boy with short sleek black hair, to the left was a boy with wavy black hair and thick glasses. Unmei sat down on Asano’s left and looked down at her hands._

_“Hey, so are you a good student?” He asked her. “I mean, you went to cram school before you got here right and took the entrance test. You must have scored pretty high to get into A-Class.” He smiled a sparkly violet eyed smile at her. She immediately relaxed. He was being so sweet, so kind to her that she couldn’t help but smile back._

_“Yes, cram school.” Unmei looked at her mother who was still speaking with Asano’s father. “Everyday and all day Saturday.”_

_“Me too.” The boy with glasses pushed his glasses backup his nose and gave her an exhausted look._

_“Me too.” The boy to Gakushuu’s right smiled sheepishly at them, shy to join their conversation._

_“Anyone who wants to be anyone goes to cram school.” A pompous voice from behind had all four of them looking over their shoulders to find two more boys, one with short hair on the side of his head and longer on the other side, and the other with a bowl cut who was nodding vigorously at what his friend had said._

_“Of course.” Asano waved his hand through the air haughtily. “No one wants to end up in E-Class.”_

_“E-Class?” Unmei asked. She had never heard of E-Class, didn’t the classes only go down to D-Class? “What’s that?”_

_“End Class.” The boy with the half long, half short hair shuddered as if something horrible had crawled across his back. “The place where only the worst students are sent. The bottom of the barrel.”_

_“Don’t worry Unmei, you won’t end up there. You’re smart. I can tell.” Asano smiled at her._

_“Right.” Unmei watched her mother wave to her as she walked out of the room. “I’m smart.” Only because her mother pounded it into her head, only because that’s all she ever did was study, only because that’s all she had in her life. Unmei watched Asano straighten up in his seat, watched him pull a folder and a pencil from his backpack and a fresh, crisp campus notebook._

_She straightened a bit in her seat emulating him. She too pulled out a folder, a pencil and a notebook. When she looked again, Asano was smiling at her again. Maybe this year, she would have more than just school, more than just studying, maybe she could have a friend._

Asano watched Akabane and Unmei talk, their heads close together as they waited for their sensei to start the class. This wasn’t over. He wasn’t going to let her throw the last six years of their childhood friendship out the window over nothing. He refused to be replaced, especially by that cock sucking, cynical prick who clearly had ulterior motives where his Unmei was concerned.

Last year Gakushuu had been competitively pleased to learn Akabane would be back to Kunugigaoka this year but now, as he watched Unmei laugh at something the redheaded bastard had said to her, he wished Akabane had been brutally murdered by the yellow monster that had threatened to blow up seventy percent of the Earth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still feeling this out. I keep writing it in first person and have to keep going back to change it for some reason. I never write anything in first person, which is why I stopped my modern crime AU for Gaara's first person POV. Damn thing was so hard for me to write and yet with this one I can't seem to stop myself.
> 
> Anyway, laying the base. The next few chapters are going to be equally boring then...well, you know...Unmei will see why people call Karma a psycho and Asano will get more in touch with his yandere, possessive, own flavor of psycho side.


End file.
